The Adventures of Kid Combat 3:
Jones Strikes Back
*Special EBook Version
Christopher A. Helwink
Copyright October 2009
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Chapter One:
Trapped
It was the 8:14AM train from Elmcrest. The passenger based train carried commuters from the neighboring towns surrounding Elmcrest to the downtown station – where adults would get off the train and head to work. There were several trains throughout the day, averaging twenty minutes between runs.
This train had eight silver train cars that had a blue stripe down the middle of them. The engine, which was all blue, showed signs of some age, but pushed the cars along the tracks with ease. Each of the passenger cars showed the same age.
It was your typical morning commuting crowd. Grown ups, of all ages, waited on the platform for the train to arrive. They sipped their coffees, read their papers, and listened to their MP3 players. They stood shoulder to shoulder, three deep, waiting for the train to come.
It arrived about three minutes late today. The waiting passengers knew the train approached as the bell hung behind them on the wall started to chime and a red light started to flash. Then, the gates on the street corner came down.
As the train passed by them and gradually came to a stop, a breeze was made by the train cars as they passed by the people. Papers rustled in the wind, faces crinkled, and women grabbed their hair in protection of their fashionable does.
After the train came to a final stop, the doors flung open and the mad dash to find a seat was on. Women rushed, men rushed, everyone rushed to find a seat to nestle in for the quick thirty minute commute to the city.
This train, in particular, was an express train and did not make any other stops after Elmcrest. It was a straight shot to the city and the quickest of the morning – hence the big crowd.
As the passengers found their seats and started up their morning routines, the conductor came around to collect the daily fares. Most people had weekly or monthly passes, but the occasional click could be heard by the conductor’s ticket taker as it punched holes through one way tickets.
As the conductor made the rounds on his third assigned car, he found it slightly odd to find two small children. He approximated their ages to be around ten or eleven. To the conductor it seemed odd that they would be riding the train alone, without any adult companionship. Seeing two children riding alone wasn’t something that never happened. There was the occasional time that you would see one or two children riding on the train – usually meeting up with their parents or some guardian at the next stop. But, the conductor found it odd that two cars in a row, he found two children riding alone together. The last car was two boys that looked very much alike. This time, he found a boy and a girl.
As the conductor took Kid Combat’s one way ticket from him, he looked at him very puzzled. He punched a hole in Kid’s ticket and returned it to him. He than grabbed Samantha’s ticket, gave her the same look, and returned her ticket as well. Without a word, the conductor moved on to the next row of seats.
“Geez, what’s his deal?” Samantha asked Kid Combat, under her breath.
“Dunno. Prolly isn’t used to kids on the train. Whatever, he’s not important to us,” Kid said back. “Let’s wait a few minutes now, though, just in case.”
“Good idea. I’ll tell the boys,” Samantha returned.
“No need,” a voice over her earpiece said – it was Wedge. “Did you forget? I can hear every word you crazy kids say,” Wedge said one car back on the train, sitting with his brother, Rocket. Each member of the SOCKs organization was outfitted with an earpiece and had a communications link on their shirt collar.
“No I didn’t forget,” Samantha said back softly. “I just wasn’t to sure you were paying attention!”
“Squabble time is over with boys and girls,” Kid Combat rang in. “It’s been a long week, time to get this over with…”
“Right KC,” Rocket said sitting right next to his brother. “We’re heading for our assignment – we’ll contact you when we are there.”
“Good. Roller, Gears – you two, ready?” Kid Combat said.
Back at The Playground – Kid Combat’s secret base that lied beneath Maple Forest – Gears and Roller monitored the situation. Sitting at two computer terminals within Main Computer Lab 1, Gears and Roller glanced over at their monitors, checking for errors.
“All set here, Kid. You let us know if you need us,” Gears said back to Kid. Deep down, Gears hoped he didn’t hear from his four friends – until they were long off the train.
“Roger,” was all Kid said back to him. Kid and Samantha got up from their seats and headed further up the car towards the front of the train. They would need to pass through several cars before they would reach the front of the train. But, they didn’t want to get there yet…
Going in the opposite direction, was the set of twins – Wedge and Rocket. They had a very different objective then Kid and Samantha. Playing their favorite role on a mission, the twins were the distraction.
As the twins got up, they headed for the rear of the train, which oddly enough today, was were the engine of the train was found. Each carrying a back pack, the twins made it through the few cars that separated them from the engine. They opened the doors to the last of the cars and found a seat next to each other.
Kid and Samantha, on the other hand, stopped a few cars short of the front of the train. They stood in the small doorway that connected the two cars. They peered through the windows on the door and looked for their objective.
Sitting four rows up, and on the left side, Kid spotted what they were looking for. He tapped Samantha on the shoulder and as she looked over, Kid motioned without any words. Sam looked over, spotted the target, and went to open the door.
“Wait,” Kid said to Samantha. Her head jerked back and looked at Kid. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he added.
“What?” Samantha said puzzled. “We don’t have time for fears. What’s up?”
“I don’t know. Something,” Kid continued. “Let’s check him again before we go.”
“Ugh,” was all Samantha could mutter. The two members of SOCKs peered through the window again. There, still sitting four rows up and to their left, was the Boy in Blue.
The Boy in Blue was still a mystery to SOCKs. Samantha noticed him with the curator a few weeks back – helping plot the Spring Road Toys break in. Since then, SOCKs had kept their eyes on this boy.
That had little run-ins with the boy that wore a blue hoodie and thick silver sunglasses that hid his appearance since the heist, but his importance to Jones definitely seemed to increase over the last few weeks – making him a threat. They needed to find out who this boy was.
“See. He’s there. All alone. Now let’s get in there before we get downtown and lose him in the crowd.”
Kid was reluctant, but nodded his acceptance to Samantha’s plea. She reached out, hit the automatic door opener. It took a second, but the door sprung open. Before either Kid or Samantha were able to take a step, everything went horribly wrong.
As the door opened, Samantha peered up and glanced at the Boy in Blue. She noticed him turn slightly around, as if he knew they were coming. And, even though he wore thick silver sunglasses that shielded his eyes from Samantha, she knew Kid Combat and herself were being targeted.
Samantha stood there puzzled and didn’t move. Kid Combat didn’t move for another reason. As the door swung open – Kid noticed something worse than the Boy in Blue. Through the windows into the next car, Kid noticed a man walking towards him. He walked very determined and was followed by a row of men walking two wide and many deep. It was Phillip Arthur Jones and a group of his body guards.
“Oh no,” Kid exclaimed to Samantha. “It’s a trap!”
Kid grabbed Samantha by her arm and turned around and opened the door to the train car behind him. The two friends walked very quickly through the next car and opened the rear door, leading to another foyer between train cars.
Two cars up, Jones walked with fierce determination. The look in his eyes was dead and cold. The vengeance radiated off of him as he entered the car were the Boy in Blue sat. Jones stared at the boy and the boy motioned behind him. Jones took that to mean that Kid Combat was just a few feet away…
Almost running through train cars, Kid Combat and Samantha flew down the small walkways between commuters. As they passed row by row, each of the commuters stared up at the two kids – wondering what they were up to.
“Abort! Abort!” Kid exclaimed. “Jones. He’s on the train!”
A few train cars up, the twins got the message. They turned and looked at each other in puzzlement and fear.
“What do we do, Kid? What do we do?” a very nervous Rocket responded back. He started to fidget in his seat as the anxiety raced through him.
“Nothing. Do nothing. Sit there and act normal – for once,” Kid said. The rare panic could be heard in his voice. He turned around to look for Samantha – she was right behind him. The doors to the next car flung open and the two friends raced inside.
“Kid, wait…” Samantha stated. “We need a plan.”
The two friends stopped for a second and tried to catch their breaths. Samantha turned around, as the doors closed, and peered through the windows. About three cars up, she saw Jones and his men still approaching.
“We don’t have much time. The train is getting close to the station, but I don’t think we’ll make it in time.”
“Get this door open, Sam – it’s our only hope,” Kid exclaimed to Samantha. He referred to the side door that led off the train.
“I’ll try, but I don’t have any tools,” Samantha replied. She walked over to the circuit box that housed the controls for the door. With a quick tug, the panel opened up. In it were an array of wires and screws leading to the doors. A short circuit, Samantha thought, could override the controls and force the doors to swing open.
As Samantha tinkered with the wires, Kid Combat went to the inner door and peered through the window – looking for Jones. Still gaining ground, Jones was in the neighboring car and walking faster than ever.
Kid turned and spun towards Samantha.
“Sam, you have about three seconds to get that door open…”
….earlier that week…
Chapter Two:
Simple Life Ends
It wasn't long after the Heist of Spring Road Toys that the rumors about Jones started to swirl. Local media outlets started to link a trail together that put Jones and the curator of the science museum – Alfred E. Scott – the man behind the plot to destroy Spring Road Toys – together.
Documents and papers started to surface that showed the two men in business together. Photographs on websites showed the two men at various events around town. And, finally, video of the two was shown on the nightly news that certainly linked Jones to Alfred E Scott.
Throughout the entire scandal – not a word was heard from Jones. Still missing from Elmcrest, Jones extended his stay away from his town and remained silent in the matter. Jones Industries official comment was “no comment.”
Weeks went by, and as Jones wanted and predicted, the story died down and focus shifted away from Jones. It was as if, the whole Spring Road Toys case never happened.
Today, a new rumor started to swirl on the news reports. A story that was a lot more exciting than the previously mentioned story. Jones was coming home.
Kid Combat clicked off the webpage after he started reading the local news report online about Jones coming back to Elmcrest. Even though the rumors had just started, he had seen and heard enough – he was not looking forward to the return of Elmcrest’s favorite citizen.
Kid got up from behind his desk and left his room within The Playground. As he walked out of his room and across the hall to Main Computer Lab 1 – he found Gears and Roller working. They sat at their computers and barely noticed Kid walk by as they bickered back and forth about some patch for their Linux based server. He exited out the other far door that lead to the Research Rooms of The Playground.
Kid turned left as he entered the hallway from MCL1 and headed for the room that was formally Conference Room 1. Over the past few weeks, The Playground received a small makeover.
With the conference rooms barely being used, Kid came up with the idea of changing the rooms. Instead of a few empty spaces that no one really used – Kid made them into a research room and a gadget development room.
Main Research Room 1 became a communications hub. It was to be the eyes and ears of The Playground to the outside world. Newsfeeds would be studied, surveillance feeds could be tapped into, and Gears tracking devices could be followed.
To accommodate all this, LCD Screens were put up on all four walls. The screens ranged in sizes – from smaller 24 inch screens, to larger 44 inch screens. There was a half dozen of these screens around the room. It was slick.
The walls were painted a metallic black to make easier viewing of the screens. The window facing the hallway was also blacked out, and the door leading into the room was void of any cracks that would allow light through.
The furniture in the room consisted of big, over sized chairs that the team members could relax in while collecting data. Everything in the room was controlled by one universal remote.
The next room down the hall was Development Room 1. DR1 was a staging area for new gadgets and other devices used by SOCKs members.
The room was modified a little bit from the days of being a conference room in that all the furniture was stripped out and used in other various parts of The Playground. The room was painted bright silver and a matching table was brought into the room. Being a place for development, hundreds of tools were on the walls and large shelving units were placed around the room.
Both rooms were funded by Charlie Thompson – the former mayor of Elmcrest and a loyal fried of Kid Combat’s. The reclusive man helped out Kid Combat from a distance as he owned and operated Spring Road Toys. Only Kid Combat and Samantha knew he helped SOCKs, the others members were left in the dark.
Kid walked in DR1 and saw Samantha working at the table. He noticed she had welded two pieces of metal together and was trying to get them to connect back into the device she was making.
Samantha was hard at work on the new SOCKs gadget – Speeders. Speeders were to be used in the winter time to help the members of Kid Combat’s secret organization to navigate through Maple Forest. Without many clear trails, the Speeders would help the kids move around the forest.
The original blueprints and technical specs were in early development by Roller and Gears. They didn't know much, but they did know the Speeders would be two-man crafts made out of metal. They would look similar to snowmobiles, but would be smaller and have a bit of a SOCK’s flare to them.
“Need any help?” Kid said, offering his assistant to Samantha.
“I can do it myself,” Samantha answered back with a bit of struggle in her voice. She never looked up at Kid and continued to try with all her might to turn the pieces together. Kid noticed her fighting a losing battle, and moved in behind her.
“Let me,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, expecting her to move.
“I said I can do it myself!” Samantha snapped back in anger, finally looking back at Kid. Kid threw up his arms in a hurry and took a step back – not saying a word.
Samantha went back to her struggles. With a few more grunts and a lot more elbow grease, the pieces finally fell into place. Samantha stood straight up, took a deep breath, and turned around to Kid.
“See,” she said, clapping her hands, “piece of cake.”
“Riiight,” Kid said back with a smirk. “Now that that’s done – when can I expect the preliminary specs to be done?”
“Soon,” Samantha said turning back to her work. She picked up the two pieces she just welded together and turned back towards Kid. “I’ll make sure this is working properly today, we’ll go from there. Shouldn’t be more than a week.”
“Hurry, Sam,” Kid replied. “Winter’s approaching faster than you think. We need to get the Speeders ready so we can get through Maple Forest.”
“Yeah, I know,” Samantha said in a huff, “Don’t worry, Kid – I don’t want to trek through the snow this year any more than you do.”
“Great. Have we gotten anywhere with the mechanics?”
“Not yet,” Samantha said, putting some items away. “Gears and Roller said there shouldn’t be any issues, though.”
“Yeah, that’s what I kept hearing about the PCAV’s,” Kid said back. He referred to the Pepper Creek Acceleration Vehicles. Two man water crafts that were to be used on Pepper Creek to make it easier to navigate throughout Elmcrest. The project became a headache for the members of SOCKs and was eventually scrapped.
“I know,” Samantha answered back. “What did Gears and Roller decided to do with those?”
Kid walked up to the table in the room. He muddled through a bunch of the pieces that were on the table. “Meh. Mechanical difficulties are forcing them to shut down the project for now. They just feel it’s too much effort to get it going. They would have to spend every day, all day on it for months to get them working right. We just don’t have the man power for that. Not if we are going to get the Speeders ready for the cold.”
“What about the tunnel Mr. Thompson’s men were supposed to dig for us – leading to Pepper Creek?” Sam asked.
“That’s scrapped too. For now. That reminds me, I have to call him,” Kid said snapping his fingers.
“Uh huh,” Samantha said, “what else is going on around here?”
“I was doing some reading online. Seems our friend Jones is set to make a comeback to Elmcrest.”
“I heard that too. Isn’t there some big parade tomorrow or something for him?”
“Probably,” Kid said. “Will this town ever learn?”
“Probably not,” Sam returned. “They are too blinded by their own greed. They don’t see what it’s doing to the kids. Nor do they care by the looks of it.”
There was a silence in the room for a few moments. Samantha finally broke it.
“So, we going tomorrow?”
“Where?” Kid asked.
“To the parade, silly,” Samantha answered.
“I guess we have to, Sam…”
Chapter Three:
The Return of Jones
10:00AM
Elmcrest used to love a good parade - back in happier, simpler times. The town would have many throughout the year. It seemed the town could not go more than a month with out celebrating something.
All the usual parades were held. May and July would bring out big festivals for celebrating Memorial Day and the Forth of July. They were award winning parades. People from towns and states far away would come out to see the parade, eat good food, and watch a spectacular fireworks show.
March saw big crowds for St. Patrick’s Day. Everyone that came would wear green and drink green punch and eat green pies. The parade was the largest of the year and would go on for hours. Bands would play, people would sing, and children would enjoy the huge carnival.
Elmcrest would also have some unusual parades, just for their town. In June, it was the Pet Parade. Children of the town would take to Main Street and walk their pets – of any kind – down the street. You would see dogs and cats. Lizards and bunnies. Even snakes and spiders were walked down the street in cages. After the parade, there would be a big picnic in town and all the towns people would discuss and share their pets with each other.
Elmcrest, in the olden days, ran first-rate parades and used any excuse to have one. The biggest excuse was the kids of the town loved the parades. But, that was all in the past. Ever since Jones came to power, people came focused on money and power – and the parades stopped.
Today, the tradition returned. But, instead of celebrating a national holiday, or spending some time with their families, the people of Elmcrest held a parade to celebrate the return of their favorite citizen – Phillip Arthur Jones.
In true Jones fashion, it was big, expensive, and all about himself. Down the entire main street, people from all over town lined the sidewalks. They stood three, four, even five deep and waited for the parade to start.
Big red banners, with the Jones Industries logo, hung from light poles, sides of buildings, and were even being waved around in miniature by the people in the crowd.
Clowns were sent out by the dozen into the crowds to entertain the people with their antics and make balloon animals for the kids.
Every food you can imagine was found on a stick, and the beverages flowed out from men pushing carts around. Music blared through the speaker system that was set up years ago for each parade that came through Elmcrest.
It was quite the scene. And in the center of it all, was Jones.
Kid Combat, Samantha, and the rest of the SOCKs group pushed, wiggled, and fought through the crowds. They made their way down Main Street and looked for a good vantage point to watch the parade – even though each one of these kids loathed being here. Not a one wanted to see Jones return to Elmcrest.
“Man, it sure has been a quiet few weeks without Jones around. I guess that’ll all be in the past now, eh?” Wedge said – scarfing down some cotton candy.
“Yeah. Summer of fun is just about over. In more ways then one,” Rocket said. He referred to the fact summer vacation, itself, was almost over. In just a few weeks, the kids would be back at Lincoln Elementary.
The boys and Samantha made it to the corner of Main and First and settled up on a small clearing right near the bike path that ran through town. They stood there in a small semi circle, with Roller situated in his wheelchair in front of them. It wasn’t more than five minutes before the parade started.
The parade was more of a spectacle than Kid Combat imagined it would be. It started from his left with a fireworks show – in mid day. The loud, thunderous booms let everyone know for miles around that the parade was starting. Then, the music came. A piercingly strong orchestra played through the speakers in town. The music was fast, quick, and inspiring. It was so loud, though, that some of the onlookers covered their ears to muffle the sound.
The first act that proceeded down the street was the gymnasts. Tumblers, both male and female, did flips, turns, and other tricks as they made their way down the street. Not too far behind them, were the jugglers. Ten of them, some working in teams, juggled various objects. Balls, bowling pins, and large handkerchiefs were thrown up in the air in pairs, caught, and thrown back up by the performers. One man was even brave enough to juggle small poles – about two feet long – whose ends were on fire. The crowed looked on in amazement as he passed by. They applauded him the loudest.
After him, the clowns reassembled from walking in the crowds, to walking down the street. They carried a bunch of items in their hands and threw them out to the crowd. From small foam footballs, to balloons – each item was stamped with the Jones Industries logo.
Right behind the clowns, the cavalcade of cars which included Jones came. Side by side, two police cars, in pristine condition, slowly rolled down the street. Their police lights were on and flashed as they continued down. Every once in a while their sirens would go off, giving the town another cheap thrill.
Next, were the fire trucks. Hook and Ladder Company 31 took to the streets in their bright red fire trucks. First was the smaller of the trucks, known as the “pumper truck.” Named for the pump on the truck that increased the pressure of the water in the hose so the water could shoot out further, the small red truck rolled on by. With its sirens going off every once and awhile, and the firemen waving to the crowd, it was a hit with the crowd.
Next up were a set of ladder trucks. The red and white trucks rolled down the street, side by side, and had their ladders slightly up and extended. Firemen stood at the end of the ladders and waved to the crowd.
The town loved the parade. As they watched the different parts go by, they hooted, hollered and cheered loudly. Kid Combat and the members of the SOCKs group just stood there, silent, not making a noise. Kid would turn to Samantha every once and awhile and shake his head in anguish. Kid loved a good parade, but in this case – he found it sickening.
As the fire trucks rolled by Kid Combat, he noticed that nothing followed them. He looked down Main Street to where the parade started, and saw nothing there. Finally, after the fire trucks were about two blocks away, out came the star of the parade.
Flanked by jet black SUV’s with tinted windows you couldn’t see in, Jones emerged on a parade float. The black SUV’s lumbered down the road at a snail’s pace – leading the way for Jones.
Jones’s float was all black. It was hard for Kid to figure out what it was made out of, but looked to be shiny pieces of plastic all intricately placed and put together. The float was massive in size – way more than it needed to be.
On top of the float, Kid noticed, were small gray tubes sticking out about a foot. There were about 10 of these pipes on each side of the float. He wondered what they were for, and that’s when the confetti started shooting out of them.
Blanketing the crowd in a thick haze of paper, the float shot pound after pound out of the small pieces of paper, making it look like a hard, deep winter’s snow.
Jones sat on a bench and waved to the crowd. Kid couldn’t figure out if the smile on Jones’s face was real or fake, but it was big. Jones sat back, and enjoyed how the town’s people cheered for him as he got closer to them.
Jones didn’t sit alone on the float. To his left sat Two – his second in command. Two sat there in his typical black suit and didn’t wave, smile, or do much of anything. He just sat there, making sure not to take any of the spotlight off of his boss.
To Jones’s right, a third figure sat. It was the Boy in Blue.
“What’s he doing up there?” Samantha asked to Kid.
“I’m not to sure,” Kid responded back, a bit puzzled. “He must be tighter with Jones that we thought.”
The parade went by the group of friends and Kid Combat forced himself and his group to fake some excitement as Jones went by – as to not gain any suspicion. Everyone participated, except for Wedge, who was defiant in not giving Jones any applause. He stood there, arms folded across his chest, saying nothing.
The crowd continued to cheer – with honesty – all around the group of friends. Chants of “Jones! Jones!” rang out from behind Kid Combat. Parents and kids held up signs saying “Welcome Back!” and “We missed our leader!”
Elmcrest was truly blinded by Jones and did not see the terror that lied right beneath Jones’s surface.
“Let’s get back The Playground, I’ve had enough of this,” Kid Combat said as Jones’s float made it past him. Silently agreeing unanimously, the group of friends turned, and started walking back down Main Street.
“With Jones back, I have a feeling things won’t be so quiet for us anymore,” Rocket said to his friends as they made their way back to The Playground. The walk was long, and with little chatter as the members of SOCKs were all not to happy to see Jones back in town.
“You got that right, dude,” Wedge said back to his brother.
“And what’s with that boy?” Gears asked. “Why is he riding with Jones?”
“He’s the same one I saw at the museum,” Samantha said. “Not too sure of anything else.”
“One things for sure,” Kid Combat said. “If he’s with Jones, then he’s no friend of ours.”
“I wonder what Jones has plotted this time,” Samantha said with a curiosity.
Chapter Four:
Time for the News
5:00PM
“We return with a story that is starting to cause some panic and fear with the people of Elmcrest,” a news reporter from channel 31 reported. He sat at the anchor desk in his suit and tie reading the evening news. “With inflation rates increasing at an all time high and with real estate taxes climbing by leaps and bounds every year – and only a small percentage of that money going to them – the educational districts throughout Elmcrest are feeling the crunch. With a lack of funding, repairs, and a disgruntled work force, Elmcrest may be forced to shut down some schools and double up occupancy if something is not done about this soon. We will be right back,” the reporter finished with. He then disappeared as the TV was shut off from across the room.
It was a few hours after the parade that Jones, Two, and the Boy in Blue made it back to Jones’s mansion. Now nestled up on the second floor office, the two men watched as Jones turned off the TV.
“There’s something to that story that is very intriguing,” Jones said.
“How so?” asked Two.
“I saw a slight variation of that commentary about a week ago, prior to my decision to return to Elmcrest, and it got me thinking,” Jones said as he got up from behind his desk. He walked out and paced back and forth in front of his two guests. “You see, the schools are an untapped resource that I have never ventured into. Why you may be asking. It’s simple,” a pause as Jones looked at the men in front of him. “There’s no money in it for me. None. Not a dime.”
“That’s true, Mr. Jones, I’ve heard you say that many of times,” Two answered back, almost sucking up to Jones.
“Yes. I know, Two. But now, I’m thinking, that might have been very foolish of me.”
“Why is that, sir?” the Boy in Blue finally spoke.
“You see my boy, the greatest way to find your enemies – it to hit them where it hurts most and flush them out. That’s what I need to do now. That’s how I will get Kid Combat to come out of hiding – is to hit him where it hurts.”
“And how do you expect to do that? There are a dozen schools in Elmcrest – and you don’t know which one he goes to,” the Boy in Blue countered.
“I’ll do it one by one if I have to. But, I will find him. And I have a pretty good idea where to start.”
“What’s your plan, Mr. Jones?” Two asked.
“My plan?” Jones answered with an inquisitive look. “It’s already in motion. I started working on it last week. They should arrive today. Schedule a news conference for tomorrow afternoon.”
“Where? Where should I schedule this conference at?” asked Two.
“Lincoln. Lincoln Elementary. And get a report to the news channels by tonight. I want this on the late news. I want him to know what is coming to him…”
“Yes sir, right away, sir,” Two answered. He bowed slightly and turned around and exited the room. As he did, he closed the large doors behind him.
Jones and the Boy in Blue stayed in the room. Jones turned to him.
“You have everything you need?” Jones asked.
“Yes, sir. I’m all ready,” the Boy in Blue stated. He stood up a little bit taller, confident in himself.
“Good. Begin your assignment…”
Chapter Five
Playing the Pawn
9:00PM
The big LCD screens that were in MR1 were void of their usual research data. The newsfeeds from the all news cable networks were no longer present on the wall. The local news channel, which ran the news of the day right now, was shut off.
Instead, a large chess board ran across all the screens. The computer game that was running showed a regulation size chess board with alternating blue and orange squares. The imaginary board hovered on the screens as a fake outer space background sat behind it. The background, mostly showing a foreign moon of a planet, was gray in color and showed the deep craters of the moon.
The black and white pieces were of the classic design and hovered above the futuristic board that was on the screen. Many pieces sat off to the side, as they were eliminated from the game.